I have a quite a few dahlias now, I keep digging them up and spreading them around. These two are new though, and I thought they were particularly pretty and not quite so loud as many of the others. Dahlia ‘Profundo’ is the closer one, and ‘Dark Horse’ is in the background. They are paired up with Salvia leucantha and Indigo Spires.
Thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for hosting IAVOM every week.
Just Joey is just such a lovely and unusual rose, and although it’s not turning into a big bush, it’s in a tough place beside the driveway, continually battling off the attentions of a purple penstemon on one side and a rosemary on the other. Not to mention the weeds and grasses.
On the other side of the driveway is Bridal Bouquet, one of our first hydrangeas, and one that was bought from a nursery rather than from a cutting, so I know what it’s called.
Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday – Just Joey and Bridal Bouquet”
Cupani Sweet Peas and Hidcote Lavender, both deep purple but the Lavender like velvet and the sweet peas like silk.
We are visiting C’s dad and it’s colder here than at home. Because New Zealand is long and narrow North to South, travelling even a few hours by car changes the climate. It’s rainy and windy, a good day to stay inside and take photos.
Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday -English Roses and Hybrid Teas”
Sometime during the winter our bee queen passed away. Seeing no brood we worried, but we read online that sometimes Italian Queens were slow to start laying in Spring. Then we saw erratic egg laying with several eggs in each cell, but we read online that this sometimes this happens with young queens.
I read somewhere after I bought it that the Rose ‘Benjamin Britten’ is an odd Coral red, and it is really. The petals are a lipstick orange shading to red when the blooms are opening, changing to pinky red lipstick and yellow when open. I thought it was going to be a pure light red, but I don’t regret it. I love the scent, and it has done well on a clay bank where others have struggled.
It’s terrible when the iPad tries to help with spelling plant names. Something which normally seems so clever just falls apart when it hits a name like ‘Cayla’. Zoe Victoire Talon, the Comptesse, lived 100 years before the rose was bred in 1902 by Guillot (I have to fight to keep this from becoming ‘guillotine’). Her picture shows her looking elegant and refined like this rose.
Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday, Strawberry Hill and Comtesse de Cayla”
We took some flowers to C’s father in hospital this weekend, including Sweet Surrender, which is the first of my new lilies to flower. It has burst from the ground with strong long stalks covered with simple flowers.
Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday – Lily Sweet Surrender”
There is a wealth of purple at the moment, in fact there is a wealth of flowers in general now, as the days lengthen quickly and the soil is still wet. I considered a completely royal purple vase, with hints of regal gold, but in the end I really wanted to use the lovely giant yellow ixias, and I absolutely love the little red and yellow columbine Aquilegia canadensis.
Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday – Ixia Giant Yellow with Columbines and Salvia”
Nasturtiums are going a bit wild, which is just fine with me. They are pretty to look at, good to eat, can take on weeds, and are not hard to remove if they get out of control.
Absent Gardener 